Police and city violated civil rights by not going after Pulse shooter, lawsuit claims

FILE VIDEO: Survivors of the Pulse nightclub shooting and family members of nine of the 49 people killed file a federal lawsuit against Orlando police officers and the city, saying they violated club patrons’ civil rights by not immediately entering the building to confront the gunman.

Two years after the massacre at Pulse nightclub, Berto Capo said he still wonders whether his brother, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, might have survived if police had done more to stop the gunman.

“What if the Orlando Police officers who responded to the shooting were aggressive with a plan to rescue victims and hostages and kill the shooter?” Capo asked Thursday. “Would my brother still be alive?”

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More than two dozen survivors of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting and family members of nine of the 49 people killed, including Capo, are suing Orlando Police officers and the city, saying they violated club patrons’ civil rights by not immediately entering the building to confront the gunman.

“These defendants chose to allow the patrons of the club to be massacred while these defendants ensured only that they themselves were safe,” the federal lawsuit states. “These defendants knew that there were innocent people being massacred and that they themselves were the only ones who could stop it, and that it was their job to do so, yet they still, in a manner [that] shocks the conscience, chose to disregard the safety of the patrons while instead ensuring only that they themselves were safe.”

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Among the plaintiffsare family members of eight others who were killed: Louis Vielma, Peter Ommy Gonzalez-Cruz, Jean Carlos Nieves, Franky Jimmy DeJesus Velasquez, Angel Candelario Padro, Anthony Laureano-Disla, Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez and Gilberto Silva Menendez. Also listed as plaintiffs were six people who were shot; 22 more who escaped without gunshot wounds; and Omar Delgado, an Eatonville Police officer who was among the first to enter the club and was left with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The only defendant identified by name is Orlando Police Officer Adam Gruler, who was working an extra-duty shift at the nightclub south of downtown Orlando that night. Gruler fired at gunman Omar Mateen from two different spots outside the club after the shooting began at 2:02 a.m., but police didn’t enter until 2:08 a.m.

By then, OPD estimates the shooter had fired more than 200 rounds in less than five minutes.

In a joint statement, the city and Orlando Police Department said “federal, state and local law enforcement officers and first responders put themselves in harm’s way to save as many lives as possible” at Pulse.

“The City of Orlando has not seen the lawsuit, nor have we been formally served with the lawsuit,” the statement said. “We can’t comment on the substance of the litigation.”

While there are many differences between the two mass shootings, experts say they are also similar in at least one significant way: Each had a uniformed officer on scene who did not enter a building as gunfire from an assault-style rifle could be heard.

Keinon Carter, who was shot and pronounced dead before being revived, said he joined the lawsuit because he does not want to be a “lifelong victim.”

“I believe victims of the Pulse shooting deserve better,” Carter said. “We deserve better security protection than what was provided. We deserve to be rescued sooner by law enforcement officers who made strategic decisions to wait.”

Police officers are not typically liable if they witness someone being injured or killed, said Solomon Radner, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit. But in this case, Radner argued, their actions rose to a level that “shocks the conscience” — a legal standard that means the actions were especially unjust.

“Our law firm, like many law firms with satisfied clients, receives referrals from those clients — something in which we take great pride,” Benedetto said in a statement Thursday. “For us, referrals from our clients have given us the opportunity and honor to represent victims of various tragedies including mass shootings such as the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting. We take great pride in the services we provide to our clients.”

The survivors are asking for monetary damages, though the lawsuit does not specify an amount. The attorneys are not charging the survivors for representation, Radner said, but will be able to get legal fees from the city if the case is decided in their favor.

The suit also targets another 30 unnamed officers — listed as John Does 1-30 — some for not capturing the shooter and others for rounding up uninjured survivors and bringing them to Orlando Police headquarters for interviews.

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“The detainees were not permitted to use their phones, contact their loved ones, or leave. They were detained as though they were criminals, by these defendants despite there being not a shred of evidence nor any lawful basis to suspect that any of the detainees had committed a crime,” attorneys wrote.

Sandy Roberts, who ran out of the club with her wife when they heard gunshots, said law enforcement confiscated her car from the club’s parking lot.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” Roberts said Thursday. “I was not shot, and I did not lose a loved one. … But my own involvement in this lawsuit is more than a stupid car. It’s more about civil rights that we United States citizens have, no matter how dangerous of a situation law enforcement officials may encounter.”

Nearly two years after the Pulse shooting, Capo said he worries Pulse will be forgotten without seeing anything change. He sees mass shootings happening over and over again across the country, leaving family members and friends without their loved ones.

“We’re talking about hundreds of people, maybe thousands,” Capo said. “Their lives changed completely, and it’s being swept under the rug. Do we want this? I sure don’t, and that’s why I’m here. To make sure justice gets done.”